Oct

6

Who Fed At The Fannie Trough? Why, The Feds Of Course!

October 6, 2008 |

I came across this interesting article at thehill.com, addressing the relationship between Fannie/Freddy and charitable giving as a means to buy influence in Congress.

The government takeover of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae could deprive a number of charities and other groups that have ties to lawmakers of two of their most generous benefactors.

In the last six months alone, the mortgage giants have donated nearly $500,000 to charitable organizations and other groups in honor of Reps. James Clyburn (D-S.C.), John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.), Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and other members of Congress.

While regulators have firmly stated the mortgage giants can no longer lobby Congress, they have yet to determine whether they can still give to charity — which, given the wealth of donations in the past, could be viewed as a backdoor to influence lawmakers.

For example, last April, Freddie Mac donated $95,000 to the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, a group that promotes policies and programs that benefit African-American communities.

That got me thinking about how nice it would be to learn just how generous Fannie/Freddie were, and who all fed at the trough. I took a few minutes to poke around for Congressional Black Caucus Foundation annual reports and newsletters, and found some prominent examples of charitable donations from Fannie/Freddy.

Moving forward with an infusion of resources from one of its partners, Fannie Mae, the Initiative has taken on a different focus and a renewed energy.  Fannie Mae Chairman Franklin D. Raines presented a $1-million dollar grant for local implementation to CBCF Chairman William Jefferson, and provided an experienced Loaned Executive to invigorate this critical part of the Initiative. [LINK]

From their 2001 annual report

A $500,000 grant from Fannie Mae provided funding for a Housing News Service, a website, funding for a number of housing summits and the creation of what is now called the With Ownership, Wealth (WOW) Initiative. [LINK]

Note that both the Fannie Mae Corporation and the Fannie Mae Foundation are listed:

$300,000 and Above
Fannie Mae Corporation
State Farm Insurance Companies

$250,000 - $299,999
Fannie Mae Foundation
General Mills*
General Motors*
The Coca-Cola Company*
Philip Morris Companies
[LINK]

If you download the PDF’s from the links above, and perform a word search for Fannie, you will see a multitude of projects Fannie and Freddie were funding for CBCF

And these are just a few examples from one influential foundation. I am sure that there are a whole host of Congressional related foundations that were the recipients of Fannie/Freddy largess. It would be very cleansing to chart who received what and when.


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